


Amongst Family and Friends

by PontiusHermes



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Influenza, Sickfic, Sickness, Team as Family, bau, canonical characters, non-romantic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-26 17:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5014189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PontiusHermes/pseuds/PontiusHermes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many in the BAU have been getting sick, but now it's Reid's turn...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 10% of the Population

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BeautifulCreature](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulCreature/gifts).



> Thank you so much for reading this (assuming that you will). I am inexperienced in writing Fan Fiction (this is my first try - my co-user wrote the others), so if you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to tell me. Thank you once again!  
> Hermes

10% of the population are infected with some strain of influenza each year.

The BAU team, Reid reflected, must have been especially unfortunate. Morgan had had to take three days of sick leave, and Garcia had stayed home for a week. They had all felt her absence despite the brief updates she had emailed in several times a day. Morgan had felt guilty and invariably replied with ‘Get Well Soon’ messages and apologies for making her ill in the first place.

But they were both back and nobody was away. He cleared his throat slightly and glanced around the room. Most desks were unoccupied, and he scanned the room in confusion. Emily and JJ were in conversation in on corner; JJ caught his eye and smiled when she saw him looking. He smiled briefly and dropped his gaze. It was lunchtime, he realised, but he turned back to the data he was entering on a map. He was in the process of pencilling in another significant location when a sudden loud sneeze burst from his stuffy nose. He seized a tissue just in time to smother a second sneeze. A nervous glance at Prentiss and JJ confirmed that both were eyeing him concernedly. Blushing, he mumbled an apology and hurried off to the bathroom.

Once alone, Dr Spencer Reid blew his congested nose and wiped his streaming eyes, then binned the contaminated tissue and carefully washed his hands. He felt unwell. He glanced at his face, reflected in the mirror and sighed – he looked unwell. His stinging eyes were red and watery and his nose was a similar colour. Ducking his head, Reid quitted the bathroom and returned to his desk, hoping without much hope that nobody would notice.

His fears were well founded. It was a mere matter of minutes before Hotch arrived at Reid’s desk.  
‘Reid.’  
Spencer nodded without looking up.  
‘Reid,’ Hotch queried gently, ‘Are you OK? Are you sick?’  
Reid studiously avoided his gaze, swallowed nervously, and assured his boss that he was. Hotch sighed, half annoyed and half amused. His youngest agent had always been horrendous at lying.  
‘Spencer. Are you sick?’ he probed, and then, as he sensed the young man formulating another falsehood, ‘Look at me.’  
Reid coloured slightly, peeked timidly at the Unit Chief, and quickly nodded his assent.

Hotch raised a hand to feel his agent’s forehead, and Reid flinched away.  
Hotch grabbed his shoulder and held him steady. ‘Hey, it’s OK. I won’t hurt you.’ The forehead in question was unnaturally warm to touch.  
‘You’ve got a fever, Reid.’ It was not an enquiry.

Glimpsing movement in the corner of his field of vision, Reid turned to find Prentiss and JJ observing from the doorway. They had obviously been Hotch’s informants and were sticking around to witness the effects of their revelation.  
‘You should go to bed,’ Hotch half-ordered, and then, more gently, ‘You shouldn’t have come to work.’  
‘I’m fine,’ Reid returned, looking restless and anything but. He felt Hotch turn to the girls, silently calling for backup. Right on cue, Prentiss strode up, instantly a mother. She placed a light hand on the genius’s arm and, with soft encouragement, conducted him to Hotch’s office so that he could rest on the couch until somebody had a chance to drop him home. The Unit Chief watched with satisfaction as Emily gently guided Reid away, despite her intentions to hijack his office and transform it into a sickroom; JJ, still lurking in the doorway, smothered a smile.


	2. 50% of Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reid returns home exhausted after a tiring day, but still doesn't forget to write a letter to his mother...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is dedicated to BeautifulCreature, whose work 'Through Thick and Thin' I found indescribably sweet and who I hope will accept this token of my appreciation.  
> Hermes

50% of dreams are forgotten in the first 5 minutes of wakefulness.

When Reid awoke, the last thing he expected was to see Garcia standing over him and petting him on the head. Well, his mother or father might have been slightly more shocking, but seeing as he was in Hotch’s office, Garcia’s presence was not exactly routine.  
‘Finally,’ she sighed melodramatically, rolling her eyes, ‘I’ve been trying to wake you for about five minutes!’

Spencer blinked, sneezed, and stifled a yawn. He had been having a bizarre dream, something about his mother, and murdered children. With a shock he realised he hadn’t written to Diana Reid that day. She’d be worried if he didn’t write, probable upset. He’d have to compose and send a letter when he returned home.  
‘Spencer? Genius? Talk to me. How are you?’ Garcia peered at him, worried.  
‘Very-well-thank-you-how-are-you,’ Reid answered by rote. Hotch sighed. He had been standing in the doorway, unnoticed.  
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, aware that the question “How are you?” had long since lost the ability to extract any useful information from the young agent. Spencer sniffed softly.  
‘Sick,’ he mumbled, ‘But I’m fine.’  
Garcia smiled, amused. ‘Come on,’ she beckoned Spencer, ‘Esther and I will take you home.’  
‘Esther?’ Hotch frowned. Garcia looked horrified, as if he’d just admitted to having forgotten a close friend.  
‘My car.’

Garcia guided Reid from the office as Hotch told him to take care of himself and get better. While the young genius was stopped by his desk and collect his belongings, she trotted back up to the unit chief.  
‘You coming? Well, going home, I mean,’ she enquired.  
Hotch sighed, ‘I’ll leave soon. I just need to get through some more paperwork.’ Penelope Garcia surveyed him anxiously.  
‘Just don’t work too hard, Sir. You always seem to be the last to leave.’ He shrugged and she grinned broadly at him before turning and hurrying back to Reid. Aaron Hotchner watched them leave before returning to his office to face the paperwork and silence.

As Garcia shepherded Reid towards Esther, she could not help but notice that he had not stopped rubbing his thumb and index finger together since he woke up. It seemed to be a sign of stress in him. She briefly wondered what his reply would be if she asked him about it, but he wasn’t in a talkative mood. Even mentioning Doctor Who and Star Trek had not been enough to incite him to speak.

Garcia kept up a steady flow of chatter as she drove, Reid installed in Esther’s passenger seat. She didn’t seem to need any answers although, in his limited and perhaps unreliable experience, asking and answering questions was how conversation worked. He was simply too tired to bother with talking and had retreated into himself enough so that he didn’t even understand what she said. Instead he focussed his attention on the soothing movement of his thumb and forefinger, repetitive and calming. Each of his over 650 skeletal muscles ached, and he shivered slightly despite his thick sweater.

After what seemed a significantly longer drive than usual, Esther and her passengers finally arrived at Reid’s apartment block. Garcia saw him safely to the door of number twenty-three, and only then could she be persuaded to leave him, still slightly concerned by the fact that she hadn’t been able to ascertain that he had consumed a proper meal before going to bed.

Reid greatly wanted to collapse into bed, utterly exhausted as he was by what had been a comparatively slow day. First, however, he had something to do. He wrote less than two pages that night, but despite his fatigue he ventured down to the street to post them, lest Diana Reid awaken one day to find no letter awaiting.

He showered, downed a cup of sweet warm tea, and at last dragged his painful and weary body to bed. When he finally slept, he dreamed of his mother again. This time, however, there was no blood or death, only a different version of Diana. She was joyful, laughing – normal, even – and miraculously free from any confusion or fear. Half asleep, he hoped desperately that he would see her again after he awoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Once again, if you have any feedback, I would be glad to hear it.  
> Hermes


	3. 26% of Employees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reid turns up to work sick (again!), and Hotch has to send him home (again!)...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took so long for this one to come out. School's busy. Thanks for waiting, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it!  
> Hermes

26% of employees present to work when sick.

Reid had only just walked in the door the following morning when he was stopped by a concerned-looking JJ.  
‘How are you?’ she enquired.  
‘Very-well-thank-you-how-are-you.’  
She tried again, ‘Are you still sick?’  
Spencer tried to lie, assuring her that he was perfectly fine, and failed abysmally. JJ smiled slightly and slowly extended a hand to touch his forehead. He winced slightly but accepted it.  
‘You’ve got a fever, Spence.’  
‘Don’t worry.’  
‘Hotch told you yesterday – you shouldn’t be at work.’  
Reid blushed and cast his eyes to the ground. ‘I’m better today,’ he mumbled.  
‘Really?’ A large but gentle hand fell onto his shoulder from behind. Reid jumped violently, hoping desperately that the voice he had just heard, which sounded very much like Hotch’s, did not belong to Aaron Hotchner.

JJ beamed, thankful for the intervention. ‘Hello, Hotch.’  
‘Morning, he replied, and she retreated to her desk. Reid slowly turned towards the Unit Chief, eyes to the floor, apprehensive of what he might find in Hotch’s face.  
‘Are you really better?’  
Reid nodded, avoiding Hotch’s gaze. He could see all his teammates watching the spectacle; Prentiss was frozen in action, the large folder in her hands quite forgotten, and Morgan was sitting back in his chair with an amused grin stretched across his face. Despite being well aware that it was an indication of lying, Spencer could not resist crossing his arms in front of him.

Rossi stood and pushed his chair back to his desk. Reid shouldn’t have come to work, that he knew, but Hotch would have to force him to go home one way or another. Dr Spencer Reid already was – and keenly felt – the youngest in the team, and he did not need to be reprimanded, however gently, in front of his older and more experienced colleagues. He cast around for a distraction of some description.  
‘Come on, everyone – conference room,’ he ordered. He looked at Hotch, who cast him a brief grateful glance which went straight over the youngest agent’s head – literally and figuratively. The other agents rose and followed him somewhat reluctantly. He felt like the pied piper, but leading a train of FBI agents instead of rats. There was nothing much to do when they got there, but nobody called him out on his motive for summoning them there, even though he was pretty sure they all knew why.

Hotch entered the room several minutes later and collapsed into a chair. ‘I sent him home to rest.’  
‘You sent him home?’ cried Garcia, appalled, ‘All by himself?’  
Rossi sighed, ‘He’s not a little child. I’m sure he’ll cope.’

Prentiss stood, then looked quickly at Rossi.  
‘Can we go back to our paperwork? Is the urgent meeting finished?’  
‘Yes,’ added JJ, also standing, ‘So glad we got that pressing business finalised.’ She smiled to ensure that her sarcasm wasn’t too harsh, then re-joined Emily. They shared a grin and left together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it.  
> Hermes


End file.
